48 TALKS ON " AT THE FEET &F THE MASTER "
That is the kingdom of heaven, the company of the
elect. " Difficult," He says,<( is the way that leads to
that, and few there be that follow it.^' When He is
really speaking of the heaven-world, or rather, when
one of His apostles speaks in the Scriptures of the
conditions after death, then you get a different set of
words. Remember the great passage written by
S. John: ct And lo, a great- multitude, which no
man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and
peoples, and tongues, stood before the throne, and
before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms
in their hands". . . When they spoke of that
condition, they spoke of a vast multitude no man
could numberónot of a few who found their way
with difficulty. You will see, from all this, that there
is some interest in this text which is put for us at the
very beginning of the book.
We now come to the Foreword of Alcyone himself.
He says:
These are not my words; they are the words of the
Master who taught me. Without Him I could have done
nothing; but through His help I have set my feet upon the
Path.
You see how plainly he attributes all progress to the
influence and the help of His Master. <( Without Him/'
he says, " I could have done nothing, but through
His help I have been able to succeed?t; only
remember, that help is ready and waiting for every
one of us too. I said to you, a fortnight ago, in the